Irish Republican News · November 10, 2022

Aggressive raid on home of very elderly woman

A heavy-handed raid by the British Crown Forces has taken place on the home of a vulnerable 80-year-old woman in Portadown. The victim, a lifelong Republican, has never previously been arrested or imprisoned, leading to claims that the raid was an act of collective punishment against the local nationalist community.

“Even by the standards of the Crown Forces this raid was particularly brutal, and is evidence of the surveillance state that we all currently live in,” Saoradh said in a statement.

The victim suffered from a range of health conditions that require 24 hour attention. Saoradh said she faced a very real threat to life as a result of the “inexplicable” act of aggression.

“It would seem the only things she did to warrant this traumatic act of state violence was hold an aspiration that her country would one day be united as a socialist republic, and hold a friendly acquaintance with a local Republican ex-prisoner,” they said.

The ex-prisoner visited the victim a number of weeks ago, a visit which was believed to have been observed by British Military Intelligence. Afterwards they repeatedly visited the home to supposedly look for a woman named ‘Nicola’.

The campaign of harassment culminated with a heavy handed and life threatening raid on Wednesday night, November 2. Six police cars, a van and a swathe of PSNI raided her house while carers were not permitted to enter the home. The victim was informed that they were looking for firearms, explosives and ammunition.

In a cruel twist, the raid took place on the anniversary of the death of a grandchild, and the victim was unable to join her family for an anniversary mass. Her family were also refused permission to enter to provide comfort.

Similar raids have been reported in Derry, including on the the home of a grandmother of a Saoradh member.

Local Saoradh Armagh representative, Luke O’Neill, said: “The lynch pin of Crown Force propaganda is the slogan ‘keeping people safe’.

“Even their most ardent of supporters would have trouble denying that this was anything more than an act of collective punishment and intimidation against the Republican community in Portadown, while loyalist death squads, which have a particularly strong base in Portadown, carry out their nefarious activities without impediment.

“In light of this potentially life threatening act of state violence, it is incumbent on revolutionary Republicans to ask the question, who are they keeping safe?”

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